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Pregnancy #2: First Trimester

Pregnancy #2: First Trimester

When my pregnancy app flagged up a notification saying ‘Welcome to the Second Trimester!’ I had to do a double take. HOW are we in the second trimester already? It feels like I’ve only just peed on that stick, it doesn’t feel real at all! This pregnancy has just flown by in comparison to Violet’s. The first time round, I obsessed over every detail, sitting in bed reading ‘What to Expect When you are Expecting’ and trying to find that elusive heartbeat with our home doppler. This time, it’s just flown by, I wouldn’t have time to obsess even if I wanted to!

This time I wanted to write an update on our first trimester to document our journey as it’s flying past at the speed of light. In the early weeks, I also googled MY OWN BLOG to read my first trimester update from last time (to compare notes and such!) and I surprised myself that I never got round to writing one, so being frustrated at myself I made a promise I’d document things better this time. So here goes!

THE PREGNANCY TEST

This time I got pregnant this time by IVF Frozen Embryo transfer (I’ll be writing a WHOLE post on that soon!). I remember about 3 days after our embryo transfer I was changing Violet’s nappy and thought to myself that the nappy bin smelt so strong and being the ‘dettol queen’ I am this is quite unusual. I put Sudocreme on Violet during the change and wondered why I never noticed how strong that smelt either. Only was it about 5 minutes later it dawned on me that maybe my ridiculously strong pregnancy sense of smell had returned, but I didn’t want to get too excited as it was so early.

As I spent a fortune on pregnancy tests with Violet, this time I bought some cheapies on Amazon, so the next morning I thought I’d try one. I was 4 days past the five-day transfer (which is like being 9DPO). It was negative. I was so sad, with Violet I’d got a faint line at this point so I really felt disheartened and I went for a walk along the beach with Violet feeling like everything had gone wrong. On my way home I decided to buy the same brand of pregnancy test as I used with Violet the first time (Lloyds Pharmacy) and I rushed home to try it (even though I was convinced it hadn’t worked by now!). It was positive!!! There was a faint line, just like with Violet. I remember not being able to breathe through the happy tears, I couldn’t believe it. The journey had begun… again!

SYMPTOMS

Amazingly I’ve had very little symptoms with this pregnancy. With Violet I felt horrifically nauseous between 10am-12pm and that daily rough patch was a firm reminder things were ticking along nicely – but this time things have been so different. I’ve had little to no morning sickness at all. I’ve had a few waves but they’ve been completely random and would strike for an hour or so then pass. I’ve certainly had more food aversions this time – at one point I couldn’t stomach eating anything but Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and was having 3 bowls a day with very little in between, which is not like me! The midwife actually told me I’d lost weight at my last check, but reassured me as long as I’m eating SOMETHING (even cereal) and taking my vitamins then everything will be okay.

The tiredness has been my one main symptom. I’ve been EXHAUSTED with a capital E. I go to bed at 8pm every night now and the hardest part has been getting up for night-feeds with Violet which V has mainly taken over during this time, although the exhaustion is fading a bit now. I’d forgotten that pregnancy sleep is deeper than you ever sleep normally, it’s like being completely unconscious so being woken suddenly in the night made me feel instantly sick and so dizzy.

Until week 12 I was on medication for the IVF, which I think left me feeling pretty spaced out all the time. I couldn’t focus to write blog posts and my creativity completely dried up, which makes me so frustrated, I hate not being able to create, think and write – I missed it a lot during this time, but luckily it’s coming back to me now.

SCANS

As well as being a pregnancy test addict, I’m also a scan addict. We’ve had three so far, one at 7 weeks, 10 weeks then 13 weeks. The first at 7 weeks was included with the IVF treatment and just checks for a heartbeat. We saw the little blob on the screen with a little flashing centre and knew everything was ok. I then waited and waited and WAITED for my letter for my 12 week scan, which eventually came through saying I’d be over 13 weeks by the date they’d allocated for me! This seemed SO far away for our little bean and with no symptoms I started to panic (I’m not the most relaxed pregnant person, I admit). So I booked a private 10 week scan, just to check in with the baby. We went along and saw everything was fine, they’d changed from blob to gummy bear with little stumps for arms and legs – that heart was still ticking away. PHEW.

The weeks past and soon it was time for our 13 week scan, FINALLY. We had the nicest sonographer who talked through every part of the body, checking the baby had 2 arms, 2 legs, 10 fingers, 10 toes. All present and correct. We also opted for the Downs Syndrome Screening which came back as low risk too. I can’t believe how relieved I was to get the big 12 (well, 13) week checks out of the way – I think I’ve finally relaxed and am ready to enjoy the second trimester!

THOUGHTS

This first trimester I’ve learned that your body is WAY more resilient than you think it will be. With Violet I rested so much, ate all the right foods, went to bed early, had acupuncture and didn’t lift a finger. She was fine, of course – but this time I’ve been up in the night, exhausted, tired, forgotten to eat (or just ate cereal), scrambled round on the floor at baby groups, constant lifting with Violet, the pushchair and car seat – this baby is also fine! Your body can handle pretty much anything you throw at it whilst pregnant, it’s not as fragile as you think!

So, thats the first trimester OVER! Bring on the best bit of pregnancy, the second trimester! 😍

I remember being so tired during my first trimester. It seemed to drag on FOREVER! I was asleep by 8pm most nights, if not before!! So glad you have had a relatively quick one and I look forward to reading more pregnancy updates 🙂

Oh this is so exciting! I know what you mean about how resilient our bodies are! With that first pregnancy you are so so careful and then with subsequent ones, it’s very much a case of life has to go on as usual! Congratulations again on your pregnancy 🙂

I think whether that little baby makes it through the first trimester has very little to do with what we do or don’t do. First time round we might be able to rest etc, but subsequent pregnancies we just have to get on with it. I hope the last two trimesters pass just as quickly for you, but that you get to spend more time awake enjoying them

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I'm Lyndsay, a sparkly blonde living by the sea with my partner V and cute pup Robbie. Together we are Mummies to our first baby, Violet, born in February 2017. Join us for life, adventures and our journey into motherhood.